Hydroponics sprouting in Hendersonville

Sunday

Aug 17, 2014 at 4:30 AM

There's a new urban garden on Brooklyn Avenue, but it's a sheltered operation.

By BETH BEASLEY DE BONATimes-News Correspondent

There's a new urban garden on Brooklyn Avenue, but it's a sheltered operation.Lila's Garden is hydroponically growing baby plants, called microgreens, which pack a punch nutritionally despite their diminutive size.“At first we had no idea what a superfood microgreens are — we were astounded how powerful they are nutritionally,” says Thomas Mueller, owner of Lila's Garden. “Most have an unbelievable taste explosion.”“We bring something to market that is unique, with the very best quality,” he says.A native of Germany, Mueller opened the original Lila's Garden in Charlotte about a year and a half ago, after several years of research and development.The Hendersonville operation started selling its microgreens in late March to local retailers and restaurants such as Season's at Highland Lake Inn and the 3rd Ave Bistro at the Inn on Church.“They provide a superior product that enhances both the look and the flavor of many of our dishes at Kenmure Country Club,” says Grant Phillips, executive chef. “Not only do they provide a large variety of sustainable, organic greens, they are very excited to honor my requests when looking for 'that little something special' to complete a dish.”A recent wine dinner at Kenmure Country Club featured dishes with microgreens in every course created by Phillips, who uses the greens regularly at the club's restaurant.“Microgreens are the newest rage, whether as a garnish or part of a recipe,” says Carolyn Widener, outlet manager at Lila's Garden.The 11,000-square-foot facility on Brooklyn Avenue (with 9,000 square feet of growing space) once housed Immaculate Baking Co.

With three growers on staff, they currently offer “microgreen” sprouts including broccoli, cabbage, leeks, arugula, basil, cilantro, sage, sorrel, watercress, beet and radish.“It's the original fast food,” says Suzette Cloutier, a hydroponic grower at Lila's Garden. “You don't even have to wash it.”The microgreens are the young seedlings of plants, between 6 and 12 days old, grown on a burlap substrate without soil from organic seed.The plants are grown under LED lights using water purified through reverse osmosis to a level of zero particulates.The LED lighting not only keeps energy costs low and heat output to a minimum, the light waves are in the exact range for photosynthesis to occur, Widener says.“It's really high-tech,” she says. “We believe the food model is going to 'harvest as you require' — there's less carbon footprint and more vitality and freshness.”The nutritional “punch” of microgreens is the incredible density of vitamins and protein they contain — up to eight to 200 times the nutritional density of the mature plant, Mueller says.Much like the yolk of a chicken egg contains all that a growing chick needs to mature, so does a seed contain a package of energy for a growing plant — so much that there is no need for a soil substrate at this stage of growing.Trays stacked on special shelves contain tiny plants in different stages of development inside Lila's Garden's growing area, a big, bright room with a blue and yellow checkerboard floor.The Hendersonville facility and its current production are a bit smaller than the location in Charlotte (which is just outside the downtown area), but the local operation is preparing to ramp up production, Widener says.

The locally grown microgreens are available at the Hendersonville Community Co-op, Food Matters, French Broad Food Co-op, and soon at Whole Foods in Asheville.Packages in two-ounce containers sell for $5 and include mixes like the colorful Spicy Micro-Green blend of Red Rambo radish, arugula, mizuna and watercress.About five mixed blends are available in addition to single quantities, and a tray-size quantity of wheatgrass sells for $16.Products are also available for purchase directly from the Brooklyn Avenue growing facility, where members of the public are welcome to stop by for a tour, Widener says.The business is named after Mueller's 8-year-old daughter, Lila, as a nod to all children — with the conviction that future generations deserve the freshest, purest food, as well as optimum health.Mueller, who lives in Charlotte, once worked as an analyst for Merrill Lynch on Wall Street and was in the cotton commodities business in California's San Joaquin Valley.He recognizes that smaller startups have a harder time but sees the necessity of going beyond the model of big agriculture, instead selling directly to consumers, retailers and chefs.The local model lessens the “food miles” it takes to bring food to table, and keeps quality a primary concern regarding how food is grown.“We want to create an economic engine for employment as well as encourage a model for the future,” Mueller says. “Look at energy costs — they are only going to get higher.”Growing indoors also protects against the vagaries of an increasingly volatile and unpredictable climate.

Mueller adds that the model Lila's Garden espouses is based on the four pillars of life: water, food, shelter and health.Staff member Laura Grala was attracted to the business after health issues led her to the conclusion that healing and maintaining optimal health have a basis in diet.“Many diseases come from poor diet,” says Grala, a hydroponic grower. “Food is one of the great catalysts for the body to reset itself.”Mueller and the entire Hendersonville staff agrees about the viability of food as a pathway to good health — in fact, it is their passion.Not only are chefs in many of Charlotte's high-end restaurants using microgreens from Lila's Garden, many people are buying the products directly from the facility for healing diets, Widener says.It is a trend she is hoping will be part of Lila's Garden in Hendersonville.Mueller bemoans the lack of current, solid research on the benefits of fresh, pure food in disease prevention and healing, and the business is now working to gain funding for research on specific conditions, such as targeted treatments for autism.For most kids (who might turn their noses up at greens in their lunchboxes), the staff at Lila's Garden recommends trying pea shoots, which have a snackable, fresh, sweet taste as well as a high percentage of protein.“Grandparents and parents like them because you can slip them into food and kids will eat them,” Widener says.